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On Sunday mornings, Tanner, the Life Church pastor, shuttles between the Jurupa Valley Cinemas at the Spectrum, where he holds a 9 a.m. service and about 8 miles away at Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School in Eastvale for a 10:30 a.m. service.

He hosts both to serve the two âdistinct communities.â

Renting space is economical for a fledgling church, said Tanner, who started the church in 2007. He pays $3,000 for three theaters, lobby space and storage at the Jurupa Valley multiplex and about $2,400 at the school.

He once penciled out the cost of leasing about 7.5 acres of Eastvale property and moving portable buildings there, but it totaled about $12,000 a month. That didnât include utilities, furniture and ongoing maintenance.

âWe couldnât pay that,â said Tanner, who has lived in Eastvale since 2005.

Advantages to using a movie theater include the comfortable seats.

âWe can use the big screen,â Tanner said. âThere is a great sound system and you can regulate the lights.â

At the Fox in Redlands, Citizens Church rents space for its Sunday youth program at the historic Masonic Lodge building next to the theater. Though the Jan. 26 service at the Fox was only the churchâs second, it has already gained some converts.

Matthew Habuda, 32, said he and his wife and their two boys moved to Redlands in June and had been looking for a congregation to join.

âI think we went to every church in town,â Habuda said, adding that they wanted âa place that fit.â

Traditional churches were very established, he said.

âEverybody knew each other. We felt like outsiders,â Habuda said. When the family arrived for the Jan. 19 service at the Fox â" the churchâs first ever â" âit was an immediate fit,â he said.

Redlands resident Melanie McGraw, 38, said it made no difference where services are.

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